Could I get scabies by taking pt's blood sugar?

[treeye]

This morning, I tried to take blood sugar for a confused pt. After two minutes' negotiation, I still was not able to get it. Anyway, I heard later on that she might have scabies. Could I get scabies by those two minutes' contact? I did wear gloves...

Thanks.

I'm going to wash all my clothes in hot water after a nap, anything else I can do? Now I think I'm just paronoid.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

is scabies a bloodborne pathogen?

No, contact. Wear gloves and wash hands.

[MissIt]

You get scabies from skin to skin contact. So, it is possible, if your skin touched hers in a place where she is infected. Watch your wrists because it seems like that would be the most likely place you'd have had contact.

[sauconyrunner]

Scabies is not a blood born pathogen, but it is a bit unique in the fact that it is caused by a live mite. You can get it from contact not just with the patient, but also the linen, etc of the patient. If that patient is suspected to have scabies, she should be on Contact precautions.

[nursel56]

I'd say the chances of you acquiring the mite while wearing gloves is slim to none. I hope you mean the diagnosis is pending. The symptoms of infection are very unpleasant, and in a confused pt would probably end up with excoriations that further put the lady at risk for a secondary infection. When I worked in derm the method was to take skin scrapings and visualize the little buggers under the microscope. The docs liked that dx - because they could "cure" the patient right away.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Scabies is transmitted by prolonged skin to skin contact, usually when people share a household, hold hands for a prolonged period of time, etc. It is generally not spread by casual contact. I highly doubt you could contract it from a 2 minute interaction, but I guess if your bare skin was in contact with the patient's bare skin for the entire of the 2 minutes, it could happen. Very doubtful.